How to develop concentration in archery?

How to develop concentration in archery? In sports, we see variations in the attention of athletes: boxers forget to protect themselves during fights, cyclists forget to pedal, basketball players seem to forget simple instructions repeated many times in training, gymnasts lose track of their sequences, forgetting essential elements for the achievement of performance such as scores, time...

In all sports, athletes need to be present, engaged, and sure to think of salient elements of their activity to carry out their action plan.

The high-level demands even more and do not support the slightest loophole, the slightest relaxation, or the slightest deviation because the sanction is immediate.

Archery is an activity particularly sensitive to this phenomenon because it requires crucial attention; it is even one of the central characteristics of performance in this sport. High international-level competitions heavily penalize even the slightest gap due to reduced number of arrows fired according to current competition standards. This article aims to show how coaches deal with the attentional fluctuations of archers because it is at the heart of the discipline. So, how to develop concentration in archery?

"There are no badly shot arrows, there are only badly prepared arrows," Darrell Pace, two-time U.S. Olympic champion.

Archery and selective concentration

What is selective concentration?

Concentration is the ability to fix one's attention on a specific goal. For archery strategy, this is defined as the ability to focus on what is important, which is the center of the target.

We often hear coaches on the shooting range saying to their archers, "Concentrate."

But what should the archer concentrate on?

The archer arrives carrying his bow and comes to position himself in front of the target. Then, he places his fingers on the string and the other hand on the handle of the bow, which he puts in light tension. He aligns his forearm with the arrow. Then, pulling his arm back, he stretches the string as far as possible and gently places the arrow and the bow at the level of the target he is staring at. Finally, he lets go of the rope. The arrow flies towards the target as the bow arm, released from its tension, releases, pulling the bow down.

Its successful execution requires not only physical strength and skill but also excellent concentration. Even if all sports requiring a repetition of the movement require concentration, archery is the one with which it is most spontaneously associated.

Now, it remains to be determined what the archer should concentrate on. In a competitive context, where there is significant stress, you have to stay on yourself, concentrate on what you have to do, and detach yourself from the result. Because, let's face it, you do not control all the parameters (the wind, the brightness, the talent of the competitors, etc.). The archer must focus both on himself and on the target. There must be a continuum between the shooter and the target, the gaze guiding the arrow.

Archery requires attention.

Archery performance relies on technical, physical, and mental abilities. The mental domain includes, among others, concentration, which corresponds to the ability to focus one's attention on a specific point. In the learning phase, attention to a single technical element of the shooting is privileged. While very often, with expertise, the archer can use different points of attention (attentional fluctuations). The archer's goal is to produce the highest quality shooting technique with each arrow, allowing them to hit the center of the target.

Therefore, archery training consists of repeating the same gesture as many times as possible with precision and regularity. Attention to a particular technical element of shooting is used during each training session to strengthen the archer's mastery of their movement. In competition, the archer often selects the most important element of their shot and seeks to focus their attention on it from the first to the last arrow.

Sometimes archers struggle to maintain the same quality of attention, which typically results in a degradation of their technique and, consequently, their performance.

Consequently, the challenge is to determine indicators for the archer and the trainer that allow them to anticipate this degradation of attention. Although not always immediately affecting performance, it can quickly have repercussions if the archer does not respond. In this sense, it is essential to identify and characterize these moments to define and implement strategies that enable the archer to sustain their performance.

Examples:

• The archer directs their attention to the pulling of the rope (technical element) by focusing on the sensation of muscular effort produced by the fixing muscles of the scapula, with emphasis on the median trapezius (method used).
• The archer focuses their attention on the pulling of the rope (technical element) by initially focusing on the recoil of the elbow in space and then on the sensation of muscular effort or the continuous recoil of the rope.

Absence versus presence

Sometimes archers feel that they are not paying attention to a particular point; this is what you might call attentional absence. While it can free up automatisms, it can also generate harmful effects when the archer realizes this absence and tries to refocus their attention. In this way, we can evoke a state of concentration that relates to the actions, feelings, and observations.

This places the archer in the action "here and now" without elements linked to the past or the future in anticipation.

Hence, archers can consider presence from different angles as it can prompt them to focus on one or more technical aspects, leading them to verbalize certain states by asserting that they were "thinking of nothing," thereby demonstrating a generalist focus, or "thinking of all," indicating the same dispersion. Moving towards relaxation, for example, is a performance-seeking position because it lowers attentional costs. It can be a step in the search for this generalist attentional state.

Shoot your arrows rather than let go

Behind this expression hides a drastic difference in terms of commitment. The archer must remain an actor in what they do rather than enduring the action with doubts and feverishness. Although sometimes the notion of letting go can imply relaxation or tension, the shooter must be willful and determined in their shot.

Go until the end

The archer must fight against attentional fluctuations. They need to be careful not to slack off on the last arrows, restoring dynamism at the end of the series.

Put more amplitude

With fatigue, the shot becomes less fluid, the elbow does not move back, and the tension exerted on the string by the shooter changes. This has repercussions on the trajectory of the arrow (the tension exerted determines the speed and, therefore, the trajectory). The coach gives this instruction when the shooter, over time, tends to tense up and reduce their actions in terms of engagement at the start, maintaining the pulling force of the rope, or postural stability at the start of the arrow.

Do not rush

In the emotion of the action, archers may tend to skip certain steps in their preparation or rush to complete them. It is the recovery phases that suffer or the quality of execution. Archers often struggle to maintain the quality of the placing and finding balance phases at the beginning of shooting, which significantly impact the outcome of the shot. To address this issue, it is advisable to instruct the athletes to synchronize themselves and diligently follow the planned protocols. These protocols include paying attention to the positioning of their feet, accurately placing their fingers on the rope, and controlling their breathing. By taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly, they can achieve a state of muscular and attentional relaxation, enhancing their overall performance.

Take the time between arrows

The tendency, throughout the competition, is to reduce the recovery times and lengthen the shooting times. This tendency is due to a lack of recoil in the action. The archer focuses on what seems to be essential (shooting), forgetting that they can only be effective if they are well prepared for it. Asking the archer to take their time is to stimulate them so that they can maintain their release and preparation routines.

Staying on it

That means continuing to maintain attention on the target even after the arrow has been launched. The tendency of the shooter in a hurry to see their result is to break the fluidity of the rope release and shift their head to check the impact on the target. It is detrimental to the trajectory when it happens too early.

To learn more, visit: www.maximumcomposure.com

Next read: https://mentalaccelerator.com/resource/focus/how-to-boost-your-concentration